Monochromatic
by akane tsukisaki
Summary: On that day, 4 years ago, my childhood and life came to a screeching halt. Fate as I knew it threw me into a cruel and inescapable life. And then, without warning, I met them. How did my life come to this? Oh, How monochromatic and bitter life is.
1. The Girl in the Rain

Clouds hanging low in the darken sky. Rain pouring down and smell of salt water covered the air.  
A morbid feeling lingered on a certain girl that day as she stood on the sidewalk. The cement ground saturated with the fallen rain only added to the gloomy feeling the girl was all too familiar with. 

"It's already been four years...ne, Karin-chan?"

Her pale pink lips barely shifted as the words slipped out of her mouth. Her chocolate almost black coloured bangs covered her brown eyes; not wanting anyone to know the true feelings she held within her heart.   
Tiny droplets fell from the edge of her black umbrella and onto the sidewalk. Her brown eyes following the trail the water droplets took as it hit the ground; secretly, she wanted nothing than for this dreaded day to end. But not hoping for tomorrow to come.

_ Two more days to go...damn it..._

Mentally she cursed to herself; not wanting anyone to hear the foul language that came into her mind.  
She waited a few more moment on that very sidewalk on that very cemented ground for the crossing lights to change it's colour; giving her the hint that it would be ok to cross the road without being 'accidently' killed.  
But then again...don't most accidents happen on rainy days?

Taking in a long breath, a sigh accompanied it after a few seconds. With one foot forward and the other one after, slowly, she began walking across the road.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"Milord, I think we're lost"  
A red headed; almost oranged haired boy replied. His identical twin brother stood next to him; adding in his comment afterward.

"We're always lost with Milord Hikaru"

A blonde boy stood next to them, a gloomy cloud hung over him as he listen to the words that came out of the twin boys' mouths. His back turned to them and his purple- bluish eyes in puppy eye mode; hoping to get the twin to feel some guilt.

"I was only trying to find Haruhi..."

He murmured in a quiet, sadded voice. The twins bluntly replied back; not caring if they had hurt his feelings or not.

"But you got us lost instead" The chimed together.  
All the while the dark cloud that lingered above the blonde boy's head became more dark, showing that 'milord' felt even more dejected than before.

"Hika-chan, Kao-chan, you shouldn't be making Tama-chan more sad."

Glancing down, they watched as a light brown haired boy patted the downhearted 'milord'. His precious stuff bunny securely in place in his right arm. Next to the childlike boy was his cousin; a tall boy with black hair.

"Tamaki, Haruhi's over there"

Uttered a lanky boy with glasses.   
Automatically, the blonde haired boy; Tamaki; lifted up his head and the dark cloud that once dwelled over his head disappeared as he yelled out enthusiastically with his hand wide open  
"Haruhi! Papa's here! Don't be scared!"

The twins laughed as their milord stepped out of the huge umbrella and into the rainstorm.

"Kyouya! Don't do that to me!"

A small smirk spread across the lanky boy with glasses's face as the blonde haired boy continued on with his complaints.

"It's what you get for waking me up so early"

"We're looking for Haruhi!"

"She could be at home"   
He snarled back at the blondie in front of him. Obviously still enraged by the early morning call he had gotten by his friend-- if you can call them that at the moment.  
After a few moments of standing in the summer's rainstorm, the group finally decided to make their way to their prey's home.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

Music blasting in her ears from her headphones, she kept on walking in the rainstorm that gave no sign of stopping anytime soon. Her black umbrella kept her from feeling the water drops that fell from the hazy sky; the only feeling she wanted to feel at the very moment.  
But then, how would she explain her wet clothing?   
The answer would be unacceptable and she knew this well.

A small vibrating movement caused her to stop in her track.  
Gracefully, with one hand still holding the umbrella, she reach into her jean pocket and pulled out her silver razr phone. Pressing the 'Talk' button, she lift the minuscule phone to her ear.

"Moshi Moshi?"

"Ah! Akane! Where are you now?"   
A cheerful and gentle voice reply back on the other end of the phone. Keeping her eyes set on the ground, she stood there, answering her friend's question in a monotonous tone.

"I'm halfway there, just wait a little, ne Eri-chan?"

"Alright. I just thought something happened to you, that's all. Ja ne"

Bringing the miniature phone down from her ear and putting it back in its orginal place, she placed her headset back on her head again and continued on with the song she was listening to before her friend had called her.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

With the music still preoccupying it's sound in her ears, Akane did not notice the coming footsteps toward her; her eyes still set on the soaking ground.  
It wasn't until she had bumped into someone that she looked up to stare into purple-blue eyes. They seem to stare down her brown ones as she kept eye contact.

"Ah! Gomen nasai!"

With a quick bow in a sign of apology, she quickly ran off as she caught sight of the clock behind the blondie she had bumped into.

_They're gonna kill me if I'm late!_

"Ah...milord, you just scared off a girl."   
Yet again, the twins chimed together; making sure the blondie could hear it. With that said, the dark cloud of despair hung over his head again as they continued on walking. All the while noticing that the mystery girl that had bumped into him was already long gone.

_TO BE CONTINUE..._


	2. Male or Female?

Restrainted by the two things that was given to her from birth, Akane dragged her feet up the red capeted stairs of her new high school. Her chocolate coloured eyes staring idly at the bloodshot carpet .

_ Ah...I can't believe I actually lost it.._

Breathing out a long and disappointed sigh, she continued on with her rigorous search.  
Hoping that maybe, just maybe, no one had taken or even plan on keeping her precious item she had lost. And if they did, then all hell would break lose if that was the only way she would acquired her treasure.

But then again, who would want it?   
It wasn't made out of diamonds or silver; heck even if someone had obtained the 'treasure' of hers, they wouldn't even be able to make a decent profit.

But to Akane, this so called 'treasure' that belonged to her, was worth far more than anyone could see.

_Gomen ne..Karin-chan...nee-san seem to have lost it..._

Her lonely footsteps were only being escorted by her dark and weary shadow that seem to have a mind of it's own. Shifting along with the amount of light that came through the clear glossy windows that she now stood facing.  
Stopping for a moment, Akane stared out the window; catching the scene of various birds flying freely into the azure sky. A sense of hope dropped within her wounded heart while a thought ran across her mind freely as it whispered the many melancholy things.

Closing her eyes and drowning out the outside world sounds, Akane didn't noticed how much time she had wasted standing there; lost in her own train of pessimistic thoughts.  
By the time she had come to her senses, her feet had already started moving by themselves; almost as if eerily, they knew that their master wanted to find her treasure as soon as possible.   
Coming to a halt, Akane stared up at the sign that hung about the wooden door. She arched one of her eyebrow trying to conjure up any memory of being in the room yesterday. But then again, she couldn't remember anything that occur yesterday except for the part where she wondered away from the principle's office and was looking for a place to take her nap.

"The Third Music Room...?"

_Was I even in here yesterday? Wouldn't hurt to try...right?_

With that she took a step forward; not caring what would be inside or even if someone -- if like the other room she had already checked -- had been inside.  
But to her surprise, when the door opened, rose petals seem to fly out and slam themselves against her.  
The blinding lights were only magnified through her thick black rimmed glasses that she had perch on her nose.  
A chorus of voices greeted her with a welcome, but she remained apathetic as she stepped into the room. With the hope of finding her precious item in her mind; she began searching without the knowledge that the people who had just greeted her were none other than the boys she had bumped into two days ago.

"What's he looking for?"   
One of the many girls that were in the room whispered silently to her friend that sat next to her on the red leather couch. Her friend simply replied back with a shrug; depicting that she had no idea what was going on as well.

"hmm..I thought I would have been able to find it here.."   
Casually Akane got up and began dusting off anything that might have stuck to her while she was on the ground. Her black pants move freely as she continued on; still not acknowledging the numerous people that was in the same room with her.

"He's kind of cute though..ne?"

"Shh! Tamaki-kun might hear you!"

For the first time since she had entered the room, Akane turned around to see that there actually was people in there with her.  
Many girls had their hands up covering their smiles and blushes as they continued to stare at her patting off the dirt on her uniform.

"He kind of looks like a girl though...kawaii.."

Catching the last phrase that she could hear, Akane arched one of her eyebrow; confused at what they just said.

_He...? Huh...?_

Still confused, she looked around for any signs that would help her figure out her situtation. Quietly observing her surrounding as many more whispers were being said. She paid no mind to them though; absent-minded to the fact that she was focused on why they were calling her a guy.

_ Ahh...the girls are in yellow dresses...wait.._

Finally understanding what was going on, she shrugged. Of course... she was in the _**BOYS'**_ uniform instead of the _**GIRLS**_.  
She wondered why they were being so easily fooled by her changed of clothing; would they still think she was a boy if she was in a girl's uniform?  
She promptly discarded the thought when another one injected itself into her mind. Why not ask the people here if they had found it?

"Anou...if you don't mind me asking, did any of you happen to find a bracelet with the name 'Akane' engraved in it? I seem to have lost it..."

"Ah! He's already taken!"

"That's probably his girlfriend's name that he engraved in it to give it to her today!"

_ Chigaou..._

A huge sweatdrop formed behind her head when she heard the comments. Noticing a blonde haired boy walking toward her, she began to reconsider if asking the question was such as good idea after all.

_ He looks familiar..._

Suddenly the memory arose from the dead of her mind and soon she became flustered. Her face turning a light red easy enough to say she was blushing.

_ ACK! He's the one I bumped into 2 days ago! Crap! Did I forget to apologize?!_

As the boy walked up to her, Akane began taking steps back only to bump into another person.   
Turning around with fear in her eyes, she hoped that they weren't going to do anything drastic to her.  
A boy about her height with brown hair and brown eyes stared back at her. Through her thick rimmed glasses, Akane took a closer look. Something about this person looked familiar, but what?

At that moment she could feel arms wrapped around her; turning her to face identical twins with reddish -- maybe even orange -- hair. Both with a nervous look on their face.

"Is this what you're looking for?"

She turned around again to face a lanky boy with glasses and a clipboard in one of his hand; on the other, her bracelet.   
Twisting her way out of the two boy's strong grip, Akane pleasingly walked over to where he was.

"Kyouya! You had it all this time?"   
The blondie looked angrily at his friend. The lanky boy only pushed up his glasses in return of the glare while he replied back uninteresting.

"Eh, I found it yesterday on the couch when he left with his friend."

"Arigato gozaimasu."

With a quick and polite bow, Akane happily walked out of the room; not realizing that someone was shouting something out to her as she closed the mahogany wooden door behind her.

When all their guest were gone, the blonde boy glared over to his friend with the glasses. Not forgetting what had occured that day in their club.

"Kyouya! If you had it you should have just given it to him! He was looking at Haruhi like he knew she was a girl!"

His friend paid no attention to his complaints as he began to write note on his trusty clipboard.

"That person's the new student here at Ouran High School."

He replied back; completely off the subject and stopping the blonde haired boy in the middle of his endless list of complaints.

"He's the new student, Kyouya senpai?"

Haruhi gazed over to her senpai; a look of calmness swirled in her hazel eyes.

"Haruhi! Don't worry, Papa won't let anyone discover your secret!"

Instantly, the blonde haired boy rushed over to her and began hugging her; smushing her cheek against his cheek as the twins joined in with the group hug. A huge sweat drop formed on her head as they continued on.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"Heh...you're actually in the girl's uniform today"

Akane glared over to her guy friend that sat in the desk next to her. Just like her, Maaka Yuudai was also a transfer student from Ouran High School to here; Ouran _**Academy**_. Not to confuse anyone, their old school was a public high school, unlike this one; Akane loved it. The uniform was cuter and easier to put on. Plus, she had her friends there.

"I still can't believe you wore the boy's uniform yesterday. That was hilarious."

Yuudai began laughing uncontrollably until Akane pushed him over and he fell onto the cold floor of their new school. Glaring at her, he picked himself up off the ground and began dusting his spoiled uniform.

"And you say you're not violent.."

"I said I wasn't _**THAT**_ violent. Beside, you deserved it."

She replied bluntly at her friend as she glared back at him.   
Ah yes. Maaka Yuudai, a childhood friend to Asahina Akane. The jade coloured hair and sapphire eyes boy had been friends with the auburn coloured hair girl; which seem to change colour on its own from time to time, since they were in third grade.  
Though their family compaines were now business partners, Akane and Yuudai were friends way before that. Not much to their surprise though, people had always thought that they were a couple since Yuudai and Akane were around each other most of the time. In truth, they were just best friends.

"Now now Yuu-kun. You know I only did it out of Love."

"More like revenge"   
He whispered slightly under his breath. Unfortunately, Akane heard it and soon pushed her friend off his chair again, this time however, he landed harder on the ground.

Before long, the school bell cried out bloody hell as a signal to all students of the high school that class and school was now offically over. A smile graced Akane's delicate face as she and Yuudai stood up to begin their way home.

"I wonder if anyone has noticed that you're a girl now and yesterday you looked like a guy"

"Maybe.."   
She answered back with her right index finger resting on her pale rosy lips. She looked over to Yuudai only to see him look down at the white box that was in her hands.

"What's that?"

"Hm..I baked it last night for some people...now if I remember it correctly..It was the Third Music Room...I wonder if they're even in there right now.."

Yet again lost in her thoughts, Akane didn't notice Yuudai had stood back in one place after she said she had baked something. Her feet dragging their owner to her destination.

"You bake?"   
He asked; apprehensive if the 'thing' she had bake last night came out right. But Akane was too busy lost in her own thoughts to realize that her companion was even talking, much less to her.

Upon opening the door, rose petals soon flooded out at her while the bright light hit her again; this time was different. Akane didn't have her glasses on that day and so, no harm came to her poor eyes. Yuudai however flinched as the bright lights poured into his eyes and the petals hitting him.

"Welcome! Host Club is closed for today, please come back tomorrow fair lady"

_Fair lady...?_

Yuudai held in his laughter while she looked over to the blonde boy who had just welcomed her.   
When she figured out what he meant by the Host Club was closed today, Akane shook her head.

"Iie, I'm not here for the Host Club, I came here to give you this as a token of my thanks. It's for finding my bracelet."

Smiling, she put the small white box into his arm. But he only looked at her with a confused look as a young boy with light brown hair took the box and set it down on the table next to him.

"You were here yesterday?"   
The same boy she had bumped into by accident yesterday while trying to get away from the blonde boy.

"B-but thats impossible! The person who came in here yesterday was a boy!"

Akane looked over to the blondie; blinking a few times recalling that she was in a boy's uniform yesterday. But couldn't he tell by her long hair?

_ Come to think about it...my hair wasn't in my face yesterday...and...I didn't have it in a pony tail.._

"And he had short hair!"   
Realizing the blonde boy was still confused and trying to reason out logic, she decided to explain everything.

"I was in here yesterday. I was only in a boy's uniform."

"Naze?"   
The twins behind him chimed in unison. While everyone looked confused.

"I missed the orientation and my maid took someone else's uniform by mistake. So that's basically it..."

"But you had glasses yesterday!"

"I broke my contact lens yesterday morning, so I was stuck with wearing my old pair of glasses."

"B-but you had short hair!"

Pointing an accusing finger at Akane, she looked back at the blondie as if he had gone off the deep end-- the very deep end.

"Ai-san thought that the short wig would make me seem more boy-ish. So I wouldn't get caught..."

_ But in the end..I still got caught and had to explain everything..._

A sweat drop appeared on her head as the thought popped up. Yuudai burst out laughing at this point.   
At once, Akane glared at him. But he didn't seem to care or noticed it due to his hysterical laughter.

"Asahina Akane"   
She looked over to the lanky boy who said that. Sublimely, he pushed up his glasses at the moment her eyes met his.

"Hai?"   
Akane answered back, wondering how he knew her last name too. A smirk crossed his face causing Akane to twitch a bit.

"Age: 16   
Family: Asahina Jin, Kei, and Yumihiro Rei. Youngest sibling: unknown   
Mother: Nui Sen   
Father: Asahina Toi   
Former schools: Keiko elementary, Seigaku Middle school, and Ouran High School."

Staring at him a moment Akane couldn't understand how he knew this information about her. But he didn't stop there.

"Maaka Yuudai"   
At this point, Yuudai's head shot up; alarmed by the fact that someone had his information in their hands.

"Age: 16   
Family: Maaka Hina and Maaka Linh   
Mother: Sakari Yume   
Father: Maaka Ren   
Former schools: Keiko elementary, Seigaku Middle school, and Ouran High School."   
He said in a droning voice.

"O...k.."

"It's fine, he did that to me too"   
Her brown eyes traveled to where the voice was. Stopping in front of the same boy she had bumped into the other day.  
At once something snapped in her head.

"Haruhi?"   
The 'boy' looked back at her utterly baffled by the fact that she knew 'his' name.

"Fujioka Haruhi?"   
'He' nodded 'his' head in agreement that yes, that was 'his' name.

"Wah..when I last saw you, you had long hair...wait..why are you in a boy's uniform?"

"You know Haru-chan?"   
Feeling a tugging feeling at her skirt, Akane looked down to see a little boy with a stuffed bunny tightly clung in his arm.

"E-eh...we went to elementary school."   
She was still confused on why a little kid like him was here.

"Ah! Asahina Akane right?"   
The group of boys plus Yuudai sweat dropped at her comment after someone had already told Akane's name out.

"I remember you now. Eh..why are you here?"

"Transfer student"

"Naze?"

"Otou-sama and Okaa-sama just transferred me here without telling me about it. I just got the news of this situation 3 days ago from Albert; my butler."

She nodded in understandment. While Yuudai and the others stood behind them, not understanding a thing happening at the moment.   
At the moment, a tune called out from Akane's bookbag she had been carrying. Reaching inside the bag and around the contents that it held, Akane carefully clicked the 'Talk' button and brought it to her ear.

"Moshi Moshi?"   
A couple of pauses and a lot of 'hai's and 'I understand', Akane closed her silver cell phone and without hesitating she bid them a goodbye and dragged Yuudai with her.

"Haruhi..who was that?"   
The blonde boy stared down at Haruhi; his eyes instantly transforming themselves into a pair of blue puppy dogs eyes.

"Asahina Akane, she went to school with me a long time ago. Although I don't really know Yuudai that much. But she transferred when we began Middle school..   
I didn't recognized her without her sister..."

"You mean Rei-chan?"   
The little brown haired boy asked while stuffing his face with the strawberry cake Akane had baked for them.  
Turning to them, Haruhi shook her head.

"Iie..Karin. I couldn't really tell them apart back then, maybe she's here now too..."

"Karin?"

"Who Karin?"   
The Twins yet again, chimed together. Their arms around each other's shoulder.

"Akane and Karin were sisters. I think Akane was the older one and Karin was the younger one...they were pretty popular in elementary school..."

"So which one was liked more?"   
She looked up at the blonde haired senpai.

"Depends on what you liked. Akane was really good in music and arts. Karin was good in sports; so she was in all the sport teams."

"Which one did you like better Haruhi?"

"Hm..I liked Akane better. She was basically nice to everyone...Karin...she was more like the older sister than Akane.."

"Sou ka.."   
The group responded together behind her afterward.

"Tama-chan..we forgot to thank her for the cake. We didn't tell her our name either.."   
The little light haired boy whinned to the blonde haired one. His mouth still covered with cake frosting.

"Well do that tomorrow, ne Honey senpai.."   
He replied back in a soft tone to his upperclassman.  
Staring at where Akane had been standing, thoughts ran through Haruhi's head; one after the other, leaving her feel lost and daze at her old childhood friend.

_ Akane..._

TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Accepted

Sunlight crept in from the slightly open curtains of the room onto the pillow of a sleeping girl. The person herself unconsciously turned her head slightly to the opposite side of the pillow she was laying on to avoid the streams of light that came in.  
Her sound sleep abruptly came to an end when her cellphone rang; the sound echoing loudly in the room.  
A slender hand reached out; patting the surface of the wooden table, trying to find the boisterous object that woke her up. With her head still buried in her white pillow, Akane brought the tiny silver phone to her left ear.

"Moshi Mos..."

She mumbled into the phone only to fall back to sleep. On the other end of the phone, Yuudai listened carefully to his friend's response.

"Moshi Mos? What the hell? Akane! A-KA-NE! Wake up already!"

Moaning, Akane unintentionally pressed the 'Off' button instead and fell back to sleep when nothing was said over the dead phone.  
About 5 seconds later, the same sound rang out again; this time closer to her ears causing Akane to wake up suddenly. Grabbing the phone, she threw it toward the wooden door of her room. As it traveled through the air, Albert opened the door and turned about 3 centimeters away from the oncoming object. Within seconds, Akane sat upright in her bed only to watch her cellphone almost hit her bulter in the face.

Albert, on the hand, was used to his mistress morning routine and was aware of the oncoming cellphone that could have nearly injure him.

"Ah! Gomen nasai Albert!"   
Akane instantly said, apologizing to the elder man that stood in uniform at the doorway. At the same time, she tried to get out of bed, her foot got caught in the white thick bed sheet, causing her to fall flat on her face with a loud thump.   
Downstairs, all the staff had woken up and heard the loud thump that came from the 2nd floor bedroom. Sweatdropping, they already knew what had happen and that Akane was wide awake.

"I-ITAI!"

Sighing quietly to himself, Albert made his way to the young mistress he had taken care of for 4 years. Aware that this was also part of her morning routine, he made his way toward her with a first aid kit in hand and a new cell phone in the other. He silently thank kami-sama that this only happened about once a month.

"Ojou-sama, please be more careful next time. Oh yes, it is already 7:30 a.m. You'll be late to class if you don't hurry and change-"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Akane pushed him out her room and quickly got ready for school with the fresh bandage on her nose. Quietly, Albert made his way back down the stairs to get other preparations ready. The white strands of hair stood up on the back of his neck when he heard another thump that came from Akane's room. He mentally prayed for kami-sama to help Akane get through the morning.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"Fell again this morning?"   
Yuudai mumbled in between food to his friend. Akane sat there, her chopsticks in her mouth as she glared back at him.

"I just asked you so don't give me that glare."

Pouting, she turned her face away from him, knowing too well he was making fun of her for her morning clumsiness.

"Geez, girls are so touchy."   
He mumbled to himself quietly, but like the last time he did, Akane heard it and soon, punch was delivered to his right arm, causing Yuudai to drop his chopsticks.

"ITAI! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?!"

She merely stuck her tongue out at the the boy and went back to eating.   
Not paying attention to his long list of complaints that came afterward.

_And he says girls are touchy. Geez._

When things had settled down between the two friends, Akane grabbed her bookbag off the floor and sat it on her lap. After a few seconds of digging into her bookbag, Akane pulled out two vanilla coloured envelops.

"What's that?"   
Yuudai asked, backing away from his friend, afraid he might get injured again.

"Munioka-san gave me a copy of it from yesterday shooting. Remember?"

"Oh yea...why was I there again?"

"You said you needed a ride home and she called me and said she needed help, so I dragged you along."

"Oh yea.."   
He said while a huge sweat drop formed in the back of his head after Akane explained it to him.  
Yesterday the phone call to Akane was from Munioka Kira, the so called "famous" photographer. She worked for the Asahinas and was the head photographer in charge of taking pictures for the clothing line. She was the reason why Akane had dragged him with her out of the host club and into that crummy shooting place.

"That reminds me, what did she do with the photos?"   
Yuudai said as he pulled out a new pair of chopsticks from his tray. He had gotten two pairs of chopsticks just in case Akane was going to hit him again or injure him in any form.

Opening one of the envelop, Akane suddenly burst out laughing after seeing what was on the piece of paper inside. Curious, Yuudai took it from his hysterical friend.   
His eyes opened with shock as he saw his picture of the photo shoot yesterday.  
But if that was a picture of him, the the other had to be Akane's right?   
Reaching out silently to get the picture on the other side of the table, Yuudai almost took it when Akane snatch it from his grasp.

Sitting back in his oringal seat, Yuudai watched as Akane sat down in her seat. Raising the photo to his face, Akane began laughing again.

"Y-Yuu-kun! They changed your hair colour to blue!"   
Was all she said before she was overcome with uncontrollable laughter. Twitching, he grabbed the other photo that just sat on the table. Akane immediately stopped laughing and watched in horror as he opened the envelop and pulled out the picture. Just as she did before, Yuudai began laughing. Falling to the floor when he saw the picture.

"A-Akane! You look so--"

The laughter continued on as Akane reached over and grabbed her photo. Flipping it over, Akane saw that there was something written on the back of the photo.

"Arigato for the help yesterday. These are the copies of the pictures I'll be using for the next showcase of the clothing line. Arigato again.

xoxoxo Munioka-san"

"NANI?!"   
Both friends yelled out after coming to a realization that the photos were going to be public.

"That Munioka-san..."   
They both said in low deep tones. Their eyes being covered by the shadows that came from nowhere.

A few moments passed and silence came over the two friends. They were in lunch class and it was only 5th period. Akane stared off into space as Yuudai continued on with his eating, neither Akane or Yuudai noticed the host club making their way over to the same table they sat at.

"Akane-chan!"   
At the moment Akane heard someone called out her name, a pair of arms had wrapped themselves around her waist.

"Anou...who are you..?"   
She said, tilting her head to one side while a bold question mark popped into the air from her head.  
The light brown haired boy only let go in response and sulk while his cousin tried to calm him down.

"Akane-chan! You don't remember us?"   
She watched a blonde haired boy exclaimed as he put his right hand over to his forehead in an overdramatic pose. Roses popped out of nowhere around him as various girls in the lunch room screamed as they saw the scene before them.  
Yuudai, Haruhi, and Akane all stood there, sweat drops forming on the back of their heads as the blondie stood in the same pose.

"Ah! I remember now!"   
Akane exclaimed, recalling what had happened the day before.

"I never really introduced myself, did I?   
Well, I'm Asahina Akane, and this is my friend, Maaka Yuudai"   
She replied with a small smile while Yuudai and the others stood in the background, sweat dropping even more since they all knew.  
The blondie on the other hand instantly ran over to her; giving her a bear hug while spinning her around and around in his arms, shouting "Kawaii Akane!"

"I think you should let her go Tamaki-senpai..."   
Haruhi said quietly while pointing to Akane with her index finger. Tamaki looked down to see Akane passed out in his arms with swirly eyes.

"Milord, you killed her"   
The twins said in unison. At that, Tamaki immediately found a dark corner and sat in it, his back facing the everyone as he sulk. Yuudai and Haruhi only sweat dropped more.

Akane, one the other hand, had already gotten up and was now facing everyone.

"Ah, I guess you didn't kill her Milord"   
In a instant after hearing what the twins had said together, Tamaki rushed over to Akane and hugged her again. This time apologizing as he did. Akane on the other hand tried to squirm away from the complete stranger that was hugging her.

"Who are you people?!"   
She shouted to them as Tamaki finaly let her go. While she stood there facing them, she felt two pairs of arms wrapped around her waist; turning her to face whoever they were.   
Much to her surprise, it was the twins. An evil smirk grew on both their faces.

"To find out  
One of them began while the other one continued the sentence for his brother.

"Come to the Host Club afterschool"   
The smirk grew even wider as they got closer to her, it wasn't until their faces were merely an inch or so from her face that Tamaki grabbed them both by the collar and began dragging them back to wherever they came from.

Yuudai and Akane stood there, question marks kept floating over their heads as they tried to figure out what exactly just had happened.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"Why are we here again?"   
Yuudai said lazily to his childhood friend who stood next to him.   
They were now facing the same wooden door just like yesterday, but this time, there were two reasons why they were there today. One, Akane lost one of her text book and she needed to find it and two, because she wanted to find out who those boys were.

"Is it really necessarily for me to even be here? I mean isn't this just for your benefit? What's it got to do with me anyways?"

"You could go if you want. I mean you could just leave me here BY MYSELF. You know, leaving your childhood friend who's been there for you through thick and thin--"

"Ok ok, I get it. Geez, talk about guilt trips."   
Akane only smiled back at her friend. He wouldn't have left her there, but it wasn't like he could anyways. Yuudai needed another ride home and she was his ticket.

"Welcome"   
Rose petals flew at them again like the last time ad the bright light blinded them again. Making their way in, Akane stood before them, the same group of boys who had approach her and Yuudai that afternoon.

"Ah. She actually came"   
The twins said together while each on wrapped an arm around her.

"Welcome princess! this is the Host Club!"

"I got that from last time. I only came here to find out who Haruhi was hanging out with."

"Ara! So concern with Haruhi! What a beatiful relationship you have!"

"Iie...don't make it sound like we're lesbians..."   
Akane said to the blondie while a huge sweat drop formed behind her head while Yuudai only stared at the twins.

"My dear I would never! It's just so wonderful you care for my daughter!"

_ Daughter? Is he crazy or something? No that's not the right word to describe him..." _

"To have another to Haruhi's friend come to this high school!"   
Not noticing she wasn't paying attention to what he was saying, Tamaki continued on when finally she snapped her fingers; indicating to him that she understood what he was saying. Or so he thought.

"I got it."   
His eyes sparkling with happiness that Akane had understood what he was saying and that she was so accepting. Flinging himself to her, he was about to give her a bear hug when she said:

"You're delusional"

At the word, Tamaki's hug came to a halt when he fell straight to the floor in the middle of his 'flinging bear hug'. Quickly, he found a dark corner and began to sulk again, like so many times before.

"No wonder Haruhi and Akane's friends. She's doing the same thing Haruhi did the first time she met Milord."

The twins laughed at the sadden milord as he kept on sulking. Yuudai only stared at the scene before him. He was used to Akane's airheaded comments to people at times, and yet this time, he didn't felt like stopping her.

Akane stared at the blondie who sat in the dark corner until he turned his head over his shoulders to look over at he with a pair of puppy eyes.   
She could feel the sweat drop behind her head grow bigger.

"Haruhi..these are the people you ahng out with?"

"Not exactly..."   
She replied back to her old friend. Her brown eyes staring back at the raven haired girl.

_She has black hair today?_

  
Haruhi thought to herself. The girl in front of her seem to be like a chameleon, changing her looks every so often. Haruhi wasn't sure if Akane had done it intentionally, but it sure was strange how she could do it. 

"Oh right! I forgot to introduce you to everyone."   
Haruhi said after snapping out of her gaze of her friend.

"The one with glasses if Kyouya-senpai. The twins are Hikaru and Kaoru. The one with the bunny is Honey-senpai and the one next to him is Mori-senpai. And the one in the corner is Tamaki-senpai."

"Oh"   
Yuudai and Akane said together as Tamaki recovered himself after Haruhi had said his name. Gripping her in a bear hug, Tamaki kept saying over and over "Haruhi". Haruhi kept saying to him to let go but he didn't seem to hear it.

"Maybe we should leave.."   
Yuudai whispered to his friend's ear and he tugged her. She merely looked over to him and shook her head.   
Yuudai knew that look. It meant she was interested in these people and that she wanted to stay longer. He could only oblige due to the fact that she was his ticket home.

"Sou ka. Nice to meet you."

"Akane-chan! Will you come visit us tomorrow too?"

She looked down to see the same light brown haired boy. Wasn't he Honey-senpai? She stared at him in disbelief, how could he be older than her? He wasn't even taller than her!

_Senpai..? really? _

"Gomen, but I heard the Host Club is a profitable club. I'm afraid I don't have the money for it."

She said to him, at that, tears began to form in his eyes as he quietly mumbled something she couldn't exactly hear.

"Are you sure about that?"   
She glanced over to the person who had said it and it turned out to be Kyouya. She only remembered him as the person who had found out about her yesterday.

"Asahina Akane, your family is the 5th ranking family in Japan."

"That's true but I don't spend money that comes from my family for things such as this. Beside I've already spend my yearly allowance. I'm broke."

She said calmly back at her senpai. For a second, he seem to be surprise at her remark, but it was true nonetheless. She was completely and bluntly truthful.

"Wah, how did you spend that much already? I thought you got like $100,000 for a month, what happened to that?"

She looked over to Yuudai. A questionable look took over her face. She couldn't understand why Yuudai had forgotten already. But he just shrugged in return.

"In any cases, I better get home before--"

"Akane-chan!"   
She looked down at Honey who was just hanging onto her. The twins suddenly had an idea on how to make Akane come back. A evil smile spread across their faces.

"Gomen nasai Honey-senpai...demo.."

As she backed away from the needy senpai, Akane didn't watch where she was going and didn't noticed that Hikaru and Kaoru had placed one of the many vases that was around the room right in her trail.  
Backing away more, Akane suddenly felt something hit her back as she bumped into it, causing the blue-green vase to fall down to the floor and shatter into a million pieces before she could catch it.

A shocked look came over her face while everyone else stared at the broken vase on the ground.   
Haruhi stared at her friend who fell to the floor and immediately began trying to put together the vase together, but to no avail did that happen.

"Gomen nasai!"

"Ah. She broke it."   
The twin chimed in unison, still acting like they didn't cause it. But on the inside, they were smirking at the scene before them. Yuudai sighed in return at his friend who looked over at him with a 'help me' stare.   
He shrugged to her and pulled out his pocket indicating that he was broke too and that there was no way he was going to help her.

"It seems like we have a new dog."   
Kyouya uttered bluntly while writing in his clipboard. Tamaki only stopped hugging Haruhi while Honey ran over to Akane and began hugging her all over again, cheering for her stay as the host club dog.

_DOG...?!_

"Just like what happened to Haruhi"  
The twins said again in unison. Haruhi only stared back at them with a 'I know what you did' look when she said

"Isn't it you're fault for putting in there for her to break it?"

"We don't know what you're saying Haruhi!"   
They said while shrugging at her comment. All the while Akane stood there with Yuudai wondering how on earth something like this came out of a mere meeting.

_What did I get myself into..._


	4. Hostess

Silently, her green orbs watched as the rain droplets trailed down the clear glass window. A small smile played upon her delicate face as she watched the thunderstorm outside occur.  
The sweet lullaby that the wind sang as it hit the establishment made her idly relaxed in her own little world.  
Akane quietly sat in her seat, with her left hand supporting her tilted head and her auburn hair swaying back and forth to the beat of the rain as it fell.  
Tapping her black metallic led pencil along with the rhythm, Akane closed her eyes; drowing out the lesson her chemistry teacher was trying to pound in her mind and entering her own fantasy.  
In a few moments, the school bell rang; screaming out bloody hell and alarming the sleepy girl. Quickly and without a thought, she shot up only to make the metal chair behind her crash onto the cold ground.  
Yuudai glanced over to his frightened childhood friend as he began to pack up. The lesson was done but he was sure Akane had been off sleeping or daydreaming to care about the exam next period.

"Are you coming or what?"   
He shouted over to the now calmed girl. She only shook her head in reply to his question while he sighed deeply in. Maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to tell her about the chemistry exam they were going to have tomorrow or even about the exam next period. She would panick and he knew it would be best not to make the timid girl anymore alarmed.

Quickly, the chocolate coloured haired girl stuffed her backpack; not caring if the papers that hung out of her folders were getting crushed in the process. She was in a hurry and was in no mood to organize things out.  
It was one of those hazy days that she hated to be interrupted when she was off day-dreaming of the impossible.

Letting out a sigh, Akane began walking with Yuudai only to part ways with him after coming to the end of the grand hallway. Her shadow obediently followed her through the crowded hallways with students chatting to their friends near their lockers.

She occasionally picked up conversations about boys, dates and who dated who but got dumped because so and so caught so and so cheating on them. These things never really interested the teenage girl. She hated drama the most and didn't quite understand why it was so interesting as to be called gossip. To her, gossip was about music and what was happening in the world. For this reason, Akane was often teased in her younger years and even presently, about acting like a 30 years old woman. That may be true but at least it meant she was wise. Right?

Perhaps it was due to her ignorance to pay attention or maybe her lacking sense of direction, but Akane soon found herself lost within the preposterously huge school.  
She smacked herself on the forehead while mentally cursing at herself for not having any sense at a time like this. Her mother really screwed her over when she didn't give that trait to Akane. You would be surprise as to how many times she would get lost; even in familiar places.   
Turning heel, Akane made her way back, her black school shoes clicking against the solid polished floor as she walked. The empty sound echoing silently throughout the blaring hallways that was filled with airheaded girls and testosterone fueled boys.

Before she knew it, she had all together stopped in front of a rose coloured window; one of thousands in the whole entire school.  
She quietly muttered to herself as if in a question form as to why she always stopped in front of a window; especially one of such a grand size as this.   
Maybe it was a habit; her mother always seem to stare out of windows too on such days as this.   
Or perhaps it was her own mind's desire to unconsciously tell her she wanted to commit suicide.

Perhaps...Perhaps not...

Whatever the case may be, Akane soon shook the comfortless thoughts out of her head and began again, on her search for her destination.

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"How could you get here 10 minutes late?"   
Yuudai whispered discreetly to the bored girl. He promptly sat upright in his seat when their english teacher turned away from the blackboard.

"I had to go to the bathroom. Geez _Okaa-san_"

Akane replied; stretching out the last word to Yuudai. In response, he shot her a death glare only to have Akane stick out her tongue at him. Yuudai sat back in his seat, mentally counting to ten in his head to calm himself down. Oh ho, if it wasn't for the many students present in the room with them, he could have sworn his childhood friend wouldn't be breathing at the very moment.

"Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling,   
By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,   
Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,' I said, art sure no craven.   
Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the nightly shore -   
Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!'   
Quoth the raven, Nevermore.'"

Yuudai leisurely looked over to Akane as the words still out pour from his english teacher's mouth. A small chuckle escaped from his lips as he watched his friend recite the famous poem of Edgar Allen Poe.  
A stiffen laugh almost found its way out of him when their teacher caught Akane reciting the poem -- in mute form.

"Do you have a comment, Asahina-san?"   
The 27 years old filipino man said as he loomed over Akane. His shadow seem to engulf her entire body as she turned to face him. It was a bit hard to believe he had just turn twenty seven and was just three years short from being thirty. To Akane, he looked much older, but then again, who said she had a say in those kinds of things?

"Iie Sensei! I just like the poem is all."

"Then you wouldn't mind writing a three page essay on the analysis of 'The Raven' would you?"

"N-no problem at all...Sensei..."

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"I think Yadao-sensei hates me.."   
Akane said wearily to Yuudai. He only blinked in response as he ate. Akane slumped back more into her plastic seat as she watched her gluttonous friend stuff himself. It was like watching the animal channel and seeing the poor deer -- the nigiris -- being eaten by the lion -- Yuudai.  
Akane almost found herself wanting to throw up at the sight.

"It's because you were being a smart-ass Aki-chan. Let out your anger--"

At that moment, Akane slammed the head of her right foot into Yuudai's shin causing the teenage boy to spit out his food onto the wooden table. He only grovel in pity at his spoiled food.

"You're right! I **DO** feel better! Thanks Yuu-chan!"   
She yelled out blithefully while knocking down the rest of Yuudai's food in the process. But of course, knowing Akane, it was on purpose and Yuudai knew this well.

"I'll get you back Aki-chan...Don't you worry...!"   
He sparsely said in a quiet deadly tone only to look up to see that the brunette had already disappeared...   
Yuudai could only sigh to himself as the bell soon rang. He was off to his next class and was now prepare for mostly anything his hellish gym teacher could throw at him -- literally...

-------------------------------x-----------------------------------

"You're late"   
Kyouya said as the teenage girl pulled back the yellow curtain. She had just changed into the boys' uniform and was now fixing the collar. The afterschool bell soon rang as it signaled all the students that it was now offically the end of the day and they were free to go wherever it was they wished to go.   
Her hazy gaze was fixed on the polished ground until she felt like someone burning their eyes into her. Sure enough, when she looked up, Akane saw her senpais staring at her. She only gave a dumbfounded look back at them until Tamaki violently pushed her into his arms while swinging her around yelling out:

"Akane! Kawaii! Papa's proud of you!"   
Haruhi could only watch in pity as Akane began to pass out from either spinning too much or losing oxygen. Either way, she was as good as gone.

"You know...I thought you guys were kidding when you said I was going to become a dog..."

"Demo, Aki-chan's the year of the horse ne?"

"That's not what I meant Honey-senpai..."   
She replied back effortlessly at her youthful looking senpai only to have him make the puppy dog eyes look at her. Thus making her regret the comment in which she had just spoken of.

"Would you like to be the dog Akane? I thought you would serve more of a purpose as a host"   
Kyouya said monotonously while pushing his glasses down to meet her jaded gaze. Akane could have sworn she felt a chill go down the spine at that very moment when their eyes met.

"I-Iie...Kyouya-senpai.."

"Demo ne, what type is _Kane-kun?_"

Both the Hitachiin brothers said in unison as they wrapped their arms around Akane's slim waist. After that saying, the grandfather clock chimed; resonating the eerie sound through the almost empty room.  
Pushing up his glasses and turning his gaze away from his clipboard to the huge wooden doors, Kyouya responded:   
"We'll find out right now, won't we?"

Akane silently began to fear for her own life as the doors creaked open and various girls began to rush in. It almost reminded her of the supermarket when they had sales of food. She quietly cursed herself for having bad luck soon afterward.

"Ne Kane-kun, when did you join the Host Club?"   
Asked one of the many girls that had just surround Akane.  
Apparently, she had became a host and was now known as Akasuki Kane. Of course with the boys' uniform on and the short wig, no one could really tell she was a girl. Then again, it was easy for her to look like a boy due to her small-- or no-- chest size. Akane could only sit there and reply back with fake answers.

"Kane-chan's my cousin!"   
Honey said out of nowhere while popping into Akane's lap. He sweetly wrapped his arms around her neck while snuggling against her. Akane couldn't help but pat him on the head while the awes were made from the girls around them.

"Honto ni?! No wonder they look alike!"

_Iie...You're all mistaken..My name's Asahina Akane and you're all stupid. Congrats!_

She thought bitterly. Thankfully though, Honey and Mori stayed with her throughout the whole time. Her first day on the job and if she were to murder some of those airheaded girls, then that wouldn't have been a good sign.

Her mind had lost track of time and had slipped into boredom due to the nonstop talking and questioning of her "clients", but when the time came, Akane faintly let out a long deserving sigh after closing for the day. She was tired and drowsy from the day's events and was now set to go home and write her 3 page analysis. Of course anything was better than sitting and hearing those preppy girls talk about complete and utter nonsense.

_Damn Yadao-sensei..._

  
She thought to herself grimly as her hands began clenching into fists. Her mind was so clouded with the thoughts of how she was going to murder her sensei that she didn't notice her razr cellphone ringing. 

"There you are Ojou-sama! My goodness! I was worry when you didn't come home from school!"

Turning to face the wooden door, Akane caught the sight of Albert waiting outside in the hallways for her. The elder man had shut off his cellphone causing her black razr cellphone to stop ringing also. She thought she had told him that she had after school but the older man seem not to get the notion and was now ushering the young girl out of the room, lecturing her on how important it was to be home on time and not to make people worry.  
Quickly, Akane turned her head to catch a quick scene of the others waving goodbye to her. A small smile appeared on her face as she began descending down the eminent staircase and outside into reality.

_ Host Club..._

  
She mentally thought to herself; the words just simply injecting itself with ease into her mind as the white car began to pull away from the school's drive way. From the clear glossed window, Haruhi glanced at the last sight of her friend with a small smile on her face. Her brown eyes trailing the minuscule car as it seemingly got smaller coming closer to the tangerine horizon... 


	5. and when the world stops, I got you

"Ne, what day is it today?"  
Friday. That was all he had to replied back to answer the question being posted upon him. However, Yuudai simply ignored the question and turned back to the chemistry lecture.  
The insomnia had made him senseless, idle, and ignorant to the events and chatter that occurred before him. And due to the sleepless night, Yuudai had not noticed his friend falling asleep next to him. The silent snores she puffed out of her lungs fell on deafen ears.  
Across from them, Kaoru and Hikaru stared endlessly into the blackboard bombarded with notes of chemicals and whatnots. The room was droned with a silence of boredom while the teacher spat out lectures after lectures of boring nonsense to the teenagers. It wasn't like they were paying attention.

And then there was a small and quiet 'click' of a sound. As quiet as it may have been to the entire class, it was loud enough to divert the attention of the Hitachiin twins. Hikaru gently reached down; the small mechanical pencil rolling its way toward him. Kaoru trailed his eyes at his identical brother's movements, only to look up at the culprit who had dropped their pencil. Sleeping peacefully was Akane. Her arms wrapped around each other to form a comfortable nest for her head to rest in. The window letting a gentle breeze in made the brunette stir in her sleep. Hikaru mentally counted how many times she had muttered something in her sleep while Kaoru turned back to the lecture.  
It wasn't long until the bell rang and as Hikaru and Kaoru watched Akane panic at the screaming sound, Yuudai quietly made his way toward the doorway. He looked back for a few seconds; not knowing why he did so. He could see Akane being teased by the twins while Haruhi lectured not to do so. But when did guys ever listen to girls?  
He shook off the lingering thoughts and made his way toward the bugling hallway. Almost instantly, he could hear Akane scream out for him to stop and instantly, he did.

"Yuu-kun! Help!!! Why would you leave me with these demons?!"  
She shouted to him as both twin grabbed her by the forearm and began dragged her off to their torturous club. As they brushed by, he smugly waved her good luck while she mouthed 'NOOOOO!! HELPPPPP!!'

The loud clicking sound of his black formal shoes trailed him as his nudged through the clique of air headed people. He could hear talks of the host club; mostly from the gaggle of girls that stood beside his locker. It annoyed him how moronic the entire population of girls in his school could be. But then again, what more did you expect from a filthy rich school?

"You don't think Kane-kun's a little feminine do you?"  
One girl questioned while her friends began laughing at her.

"Kane-kun? No way! He's so masculine!"  
A stifled laugh nearly escape from his lips at the phrase the girl had just said. He soundlessly made a mental note to make fun of Akane later on for that.  
Pushing the locker door back in place, Yuudai closed his locker only to find that he had slammed it loud enough to frighten the groups of girls away. He could care less though; it wasn't like they could form an intelligent complaint by themselves anyways.

But Yuudai knew, he knew very well, how these were the children of prosperous and prestige families. Oh, but how ironic it was that so was he. Yet at the same time, he found it disgusting how he could be grouped with brainless and gluttonous money-grabbing idiots.  
He let out an empty sigh; pity was so out of date. And so, with this thought floating around in his mind, Yuudai aimlessly wondered around the school. Going home wasn't an option -- well it was, but going home would be hell. His worrisome mother and his brute of a father lecturing him nonstop about their family honor being pinned upon him. Oh yes, going home was the best option the teenager had at the moment.  
He scoffed at the idiotic idea; still not paying attention to where he was going and who he might bump into on the way of his destined journey.  
And then, it happened. He walked right into someone, causing them to fall onto the ground as their books thundered onto them. Ouch.

"I deeply apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going."  
He spoke amiably as he began picking the books up for the person. It wasn't until he looked up that he noticed that it was a girl. Oh the irony. He could have laughed but it wouldn't have been polite and the person would have thought he wasn't well in the head.

"It's ok. I wasn't looking either. Anou..My name's Morisato Ayano."

Morisato, Ayano. 16 years of age, blood type AB. Father is Morisato Takeno. Birth mother is Sasami Keiko. Step-mother is a former mistress named Hanasaki Fuyumi. Family business rules over 15 percent of imports from Japan to Europe.  
He informed himself as he bowed his head in agreement.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Maaka Yuudai."  
He spoke; flaunting falsely polite words before the innocent prey. She only complied with a simple nod while he smiled back. He handed her the massive stacks of books back to her. His long fingers touching her soft hands as the books traveled from his possession to hers; not caring to notice a delicate blush creeping substantially upon her already pink cheeks. No, he did not care to notice whatsoever.

"Well then, Morisato-san, I apologize once more for my inconsiderate actions and I hope you will have a safe trip to your destination."

"T-thank you.."  
She whispered in an almost inaudible tone. He courtly bowed in return as the sounds of heels began clicking away at the polish floor. From the spot she was standing from, Ayano stared at the blue jacket back of her classmate. It seem like he didn't noticed her; she was in his class afterall. But then again, no one notices the quiet girl who tends to keep to herself in the back of the classroom. Isolated. Quiet. Lonely. Those were the words that described her so well to the bone. Her fiber of living wasn't an importance to anyone; no one at all.  
Her brown eyes lowered themselves toward the marble cold floor. The perturbing thoughts that found themselves in her mind began whispering fatalistic words strung by reality. In truth, she wanted nothing more than to be noticed -- even if it's for one second.  
Ayano let out a pitiful puff of air, how can she -- of all people -- be so lewd as to ask for that?  
Being quiet and lonely was afterall, who she was. But she wanted to change that persona. She wanted unrealistic attention. She wanted to be surrounded by friends.  
But that's what she **wanted**. Not who she **was**.  
Quickly, she turned heel and began walking down the surprisingly silent hallway. Her reddish short hair trailing behind her; following its master.

Yuudai on the other hand, was already home. True, he had said that he'd rather kill time at school, but there was nothing to do. And while he went to the host club to find and bother his masculine friend, she had threatened to behead him if he did not leave her alone to pay off her debt -- no thanks to him.  
He scoffed at what she had said, saying that in defense, she was the one who broke the vase. Why was it partly his fault?  
With that, Akane had slammed the colossal wooden door in his face; almost clamming his hands in the golden hinges. He would complain and bitch about it later to her, he decided.

Dropping his black bookbag on to the ground, he stood still for a moment. Something was missing, something very regular was missing. Why was it so quiet in the prodigious home? Why wasn't there any screaming? Yelling? Cursing even? Why?  
If curiosity killed the cat, then Yuudai would be next. He creeped quietly to the staircase near his room. The red carpet stained with the rose dye only made him feel more uneasy. Was this a sign possibly?  
He shook his head; he was going crazy -- perhaps from the influence of Akane?  
Yes, perchance it was her fault again, he thought.  
With his hands freely sliding down the railing of the timbered staircase, Yuudai peered down; making sure that whoever was talking downstairs would not notice him.

"I see. So this is an offical marriage agreement then."  
The low and blatant voice that belonged to a male was familiar to Yuudai. He knew it was no one else but his father. And next, he heard his fatigued mother speak. Her voice so vague as to the answer of what he had just heard.

"Dear, are you sure? What if--"

"There is no 'what if' in this family. You should know that by now. Understand?"  
Slience. And then came the frail and deprecate response:  
"Yes Dear."

He didn't want to hear any more of it. He had enough of the same and tiring conversation between his parents. The same old news with the same discouragement his father had given to his mother. He wondered, though, in the depth of his sequestered mind, why his mother had married or even stayed so long in a relationship to be called a marriage, with his cruel father.  
And though he thought long and hard about it, only one answer came to his mind. Arranged marriage.  
His mother had been such a cheerful and social woman, but then came her 18th birthday and everything that was her, went down the drain to save her family from bankruptcy. So in short, he reasoned, in exchange for her family's lifestyle, she had to give herself up -- literally as well as the essence of who she was.  
He really did pity her; the woman he learned to call his mother. But like before, pity was so out of date.  
Just as quick as the curiosity came, it went and so did Yuudai. He swiftly returned to his room; shutting the pale white door behind him. He didn't want his parents to know he was already home and had eavesdropped on their conversation. The nagging would never stop then; he imagined dying so ever slowly while his parents -- mostly his father-- stabs him with talks of honor and how he was a disgrace to the Maaka family.  
Shuddering at the thought, he picked up the phone only to find that the other line was already picked up and his friend was on the other line.  
He secretly smiled; Akane would make him feel somewhat better -- if not worse.

"I told you. You just simply didn't listen baka."  
She yelled through the phone line. Yuudai sat quietly in his king sized navy bed. The walls shimmered with the light from the huge chandelier that hung above him. The metallic clock on his pale green wall chimed; it was already 8:30 p.m.

"Aki-chan!! You didn't say that I couldn't bother you when you were 'working'"

"Shut up! I totally did tell you! You bastard! And stop making it sound like I'm a prostitute on a corner!"  
He laughed. Ah, Akane, she was beyond a doubt not ladylike. But then, if she was, would she be like the common population of Ouran? Brain dead and money hungry?  
Wait, how could Akane be in the least feminine at all?  
He snickered at the image of Akane being ladylike. Oh, the world would come to an end before that ever happens.  
On the other line, Akane began yelling at him demanding an explanation on why he was laughing so hysterically. He plainly ignored her screeching demand and began telling her about his day only to have her scream  
"BAKA!! I'm in the same damn class as you! Why the hell wouldn't I know what happened today?!"

He chuckled in response while she began to converse on another topic.  
"So I saw you with Morisato Ayano today, you know, afterschool."

"So?"  
A small piece of silence occurred between the two friends afterward. The response Yuudai had given to Akane sounded serious -- unlike his usual carefree behavior. Had she touched something awful with her best guy friend?

"Does she know about it?"

"About what?"  
He said flatly on the phone to his friend; turning toward the door to see if anyone was listening from the outside.

"The whole thing with your family and hers."

"Oh."  
There was an uneasy sigh from the other line as Akane began to speak again. This time, in a quiet tone.

"So, what do you think of her? I mean, like is she your type?"  
Akane questioned; pressing more on the complicated issue with Yuudai. But her friend seem less friendly to cooperate than she had hoped or expected.

"Does it matter?"  
The strong blant words that he strung together seem overwhelming to Akane. It made her, in a way, fearful of this dark side of his and how the conversation would affect their friendship later on -- if there was even a 'later on' afterward.

"I-I mean, if you're going to have to--"

"Exactly, I _have_ to. Not _want_ to."  
Immediately, Yuudai began to realize that his tone had changed and that, in his own fearful way, he had resembled his father in this conversation. Shit, did that mean he would become a tyrant ruling with fear over someone else's life?  
He let out an exasperated sigh. The thought of becoming like the man who he hated the most certainly did not comfort him in any ways.

"Does your parents know that you know?"

"Guess not. I mean, they haven't shown any signs of it. But I'm pretty sure my mom will spill the beans to me first. You know how she is."

"Yeah..."  
Yuudai stared at out the clear glossed window, the wind seem to be picking up outside; a sign a storm was brewing?  
He waited for any response from Akane, but the lass remained silent also. Maybe she was looking out the window too. It was a habit of hers afterall.

"I think she's pretty."

"What?"

"I said, I think she's pretty. I mean, maybe not beautiful, but if you look close enough, she's really kinda, maybe pretty."  
His eyebrows furrowed together in a question mark. Had his friend gotten A.D.D while he had left her alone for a while? Even for a few hours? Then again, she did tell him to leave her alone, so it wasn't entirely his fault.

"Aki-chan, did you get A.D.D?"

"That's just mean. I'm trying to tell you that she's pretty and you go and call me a freakin' retard. What a friend you turn out to be."  
She said while he bursted out laughing on the other line. She smiled, at least Yuudai had returned to his usual, somewhat normal state.

"I mean it. She's pretty. Not beautiful, but pretty. Morisato-san that is."  
And then came the sigh. The long winded sigh. She could hear Yuudai getting up and sitting on his bed now. The sounds of rustling sheeting made her wonder what in the world he had been doing before.

"Whatever."  
This time, she bursted out laughing at her friend. Akane found it quite funny how Yuudai could downsize such a situation. But then again, this was Yuudai -- he was afterall, a strange person himself.  
Maybe this was the reason why both of them were such good friends -- because of their abnormal personalities?  
Akane nodded her head silently in agreement with the thought; it would be too complicated if she tried reasoning it out more.

"Ojou-sama! Please go to bed!"

"Demo--"

"Go to bed!"  
Yuudai snickered as he hung up the phone. The conversation that was occurring over the phone was one to those of a parent yelling at a spoiled child -- in which he did not have any interest in.  
But Yuudai wondered, how Akane could be such a carefree person -- in a sense, after everything she had gone through.  
Beyond a doubt, he mused delightfully to no one but himself, if and when his world would stop, Akane would be the person who could and most probably be able to wind up the screw for his world to start spinning again.

Yes, when the world should ever stop, Akane would be there for him.


End file.
